The University of Wisconsin Police Department said Tuesday they are investigating an incident involving a suspicious middle-aged man allegedly conversing with and looking at photographs of young girls at a College Library computer Monday.

According to Lt. Eric Holen, the department decided to open the case after receiving several phone calls and speaking with a witness late last night.

Several witnesses told The Badger Herald the man — who appeared to be in his 40s or 50s — was using a first floor computer to look at a young female's Internet profile. They also said he was sending instant messages to several accounts and that his behavior bothered several students in the area.

The Badger Herald obtained a copy of one instant message conversation in which the man allegedly spoke about receiving photographs from a high school girl and encouraged her to move to Madison.

UW students David Lapidus and Matt Weil said they and some friends took turns walking by the computer, and several of them confirmed the man's suspicious actions. They reported the incident to one of the library workers on duty, who contacted the library security officer to deal with the situation.

"We just said … Look, there's something really suspicious going on, and we think the police should do something about it," Lapidus said.

The security officer on duty, who is not affiliated with the UWPD, approached the man and asked if he was a UW student, and then asked the man to leave the library.

"They got in a little bit of an argument," Lapidus said. "He said, 'I need to keep in touch with my friends and open my e-mail.'"

The officer insisted the man exit the premises, which he did without further argument, witnesses said.

Weil said he tried to contact the police department Tuesday but had not yet heard from them.

"The dispatcher told me they had been getting a lot of calls from individuals looking into this, but apparently the office had no clue this was going on," Weil said.

Holen said the department received a non-urgent phone call from someone attempting to report a man acting suspiciously in College Library Monday night, but police were not able to reach the person when they tried to call back.

"We had a call about that time when someone wanted to report something that happened earlier that evening, but that was about it," Holen said.

Had the police department been properly notified at the time, Holen said, they would have investigated the suspicious man's behavior, and the outcome could have been anything from escorting him out of the library to a citation or an arrest.

Dean of Students Lori Berquam did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday night, and no library officials were available for comment as of press time.